The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources spent between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports during fiscal year (FY) 2016/2017, an official at the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) toldAl Mal News.

Rising domestic production has permitted Egypt to reduce its reliance upon imports. For FY 2017/2018, the ministry plans to decrease imports of LNG by 32-33%.

Egypt imported 118 LNG cargoes in FY 2016/2017, but this number will fall to 80 cargoes in FY 2017/2018, the Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla, toldReutersin September. He estimated the cost of LNG imports for the current fiscal year at $1.8 billion.

Egypt’s production of natural gas rose to 3.37 million tons in July 2017, a year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase of 28.6% from last year’s 2.62 million tons,Egypt Oil & Gasreports.

Consumption also rose to 3.94 million tons in July from 3.45 million tons in July 2016, a 14.2% Y-o-Y increase, according to the information released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).